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pure in heart, for they shall see God. The promise, therefore, is so great, as to surpass the highest limit of blessedness. For what other thing would one desire after such a good, having all things in that which is seen? For ‘to see’ signifies the same as ‘to have’ in the usage of Scripture; just as the phrase, ‘May you see the good things of Jerusalem,’ means ‘May you find,’ and the phrase, ‘Let the wicked man be taken away, that he may not see the glory of the Lord,’ through ‘not seeing,’ the prophet signifies ‘not to partake.’ Therefore, he who has seen God has, through seeing, all that is in the catalogue of good things: life without end, eternal incorruptibility, immortal blessedness, the unending kingdom, unceasing joy, the true light, the spiritual and sweet voice, the unapproachable glory, perpetual exultation, every good thing. Therefore, that which is set before us in hope in the promise of blessedness is of such a kind and so great. But since the way to see has been shown to be through becoming pure in heart, at this my mind again becomes dizzy, lest perhaps the purity of the heart is among the impossible things and those which transcend our nature. For if God is seen for this reason, but Moses and Paul did not see, and it was ordained that neither he, nor any other, could see, then what is now set forth by the Word in the beatitude seems to be something impossible. What then is our gain from knowing how God is seen, if the possibility is not present in our thought? For such a thing is like someone saying it is blessed to be in heaven, because there one will behold things not seen in this life, For if some means of the journey to heaven were shown through the word, learning that it is blessed to be there would be useful to the hearers. But as long as the ascent is impossible, what profit does the knowledge of heavenly blessedness bring, only grieving those who have learned of what we are deprived because of the impossibility of the ascent? Does the Lord then command something outside our nature, and has He exceeded the measures of human ability with the greatness of the commandment? This is not so. For He does not command those into whom He has not implanted the wing to become winged creatures, nor those to whom He has allotted a life on land to live under water. If therefore in all other things the law is suited to the ability of those who receive it, and forces nothing beyond nature; then we shall surely understand from what follows that what is shown through the beatitude is not beyond hope. But also that 44.1268 John, and Paul, and Moses, and any other who is like them, have not fallen away from this high blessedness, which comes from seeing God, nor he who said, 'There is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the righteous judge will award to me,' nor he who rested on Jesus' breast, nor he who heard from the divine voice, 'I have known you above all others.' If therefore those, by whom the comprehension of God is preached to be beyond our power, are without doubt blessed, and blessedness consists in seeing God, and this comes from becoming pure in heart; then the purity of the heart, through which it is possible to become blessed, is not impossible. How then is it possible to say that those who follow Paul speak the truth when they indicate that the comprehension of God is beyond our ability, and that the voice of the Lord does not contradict them, promising that God will be seen in purity? It seems good to me first to treat of this briefly, so that our contemplation of the subject at hand might proceed methodically. The divine nature itself, whatever it is in its essence, transcends every comprehensive thought, being unapproachable and inaccessible to conjectural thoughts, and no power has yet been found by men for the comprehension of the incomprehensible; nor has any comprehensive approach to the impossible been devised. Therefore also the great Apostle calls His ways 'unsearchable,' signifying by the word that that way which leads to the knowledge of the divine essence is untrodden by reasonings; as none of the

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ροὶ τῇ καρδίᾳ, ὅτι αὐτοὶ τὸν Θεὸν ὄψονται. Ἡ μὲν οὖν ἐπαγγελία τοσαύτη, ὡς παριέναι τὸν ἀκρότατον τῆς, μακαριότητος ὅρον. Τί γὰρ ἄν τις μετὰ τὸ τοιοῦτον ἀγαθὸν, ἄλλο ποθήσειεν, πάντα ἔχων ἐν ἑωραμένῳ; Τὸ γὰρ ἰδεῖν ταὐτὸν σημαίνει τῷ σχεῖν ἐν τῇ τῆς Γραφῆς συνηθείᾳ· καθάπερ τὸ, Ἴδοις τὰ ἀγαθὰ Ἱερουσαλὴμ, ἀντὶ τοῦ Εὕροις, τοῦ λόγου σημαίνοντος· καὶ τὸ, Ἀρθήτω ὁ ἀσε βὴς, ἵνα μὴ ἴδῃ τὴν δόξαν Κυρίου, διὰ τοῦ μὴ ἰδεῖν, τὸ μὴ μετασχεῖν τοῦ προφήτου δηλοῦντος. Οὐκοῦν ὁ τὸν Θεὸν ἰδὼν, πᾶν ὅπερ ἐστὶν ἐν ἀγαθῶν καταλόγῳ, διὰ τοῦ ἰδεῖν ἔσχε, τὴν ἀτελεύτητον ζωὴν, τὴν ἀΐδιον ἀφθαρσίαν, τὴν ἀθάνατον μακα ριότητα, τὴν ἀτελεύτητον βασιλείαν, τὴν ἄληκτον εὐφροσύνην, τὸ ἀληθινὸν φῶς, τὴν πνευματικὴν καὶ γλυκεῖαν φωνὴν, τὴν ἀπρόσιτον δόξαν, τὸ διηνεκὲς ἀγαλ λίαμα, τὸ πᾶν ἀγαθόν. Τὸ μὲν οὖν κατ' ἐλπίδα προ κείμενον ἐν τῇ μακαριότητος ἐπαγγελίᾳ, τοιοῦτόν τε καὶ τοσοῦτον. Ἐπεὶ δὲ ὁ τρόπος τοῦ ἰδεῖν διὰ τοῦ καθαρὸν γενέσθαι τῇ καρδίᾳ προδέδεικται· ἐν τούτῳ μοι πάλιν ἰλιγγιᾷ ἡ διάνοια, μὴ ἄρα τῶν ἀμηχάνων τε καὶ ὑπερβαινόντων τὴν φύσιν ἡμῶν, ἡ καθαρότης τῆς καρδίας ἐστίν. Εἰ γὰρ διὰ τοῦτο ὁ Θεὸς ὁρᾶται· Μωσῆς δὲ καὶ Παῦλος οὐκ ἴδον, τὸ μήτε αὐτὸν, μήτε ἄλλον τινὰ δύνασθαι ἰδεῖν διωρίσατο, ἀδύνατον ἔοικέ τι εἶναι τὸ τῷ μακαρισμῷ νῦν ὑπὸ τοῦ Λόγου προκείμενον. Τί οὖν ἡμῖν τὸ κέρδος ἐκ τοῦ γνῶναι πῶς ὁ Θεὸς ὁρᾶται, εἰ τὸ δυνατὸν τῇ ἐπινοίᾳ μὴ πρόσεστιν; Ὅμοιον γὰρ τὸ τοιοῦτον, ὥσπερ ἂν εἴ τις μακάριον εἶναι λέγοι τὸ ἐν οὐρανῷ γενέσθαι· ὅτι ἐκεῖ κατόψεται τὰ ἐν τῷ βίῳ μὴ καθορώμενα, Εἰ γάρ τις ἦν μηχανὴ τῆς ἐπὶ τὸν οὐρανὸν πορείας διὰ τοῦ λόγου προδεικνυμένη· τὸ μαθεῖν ὅτι μακα ριστόν ἐστι τὸ ἐν ἐκείνῳ γενέσθαι, χρήσιμον ἂν ἦν τοῖς ἀκούουσιν. Ἕως δ' ἂν τὸ κατὰ τὴν ἄνοδον ἀμή χανον ᾖ, τί φέρει κέρδος ἡ γνῶσις τῆς μακαριότη τος τῆς οὐρανίας, λυποῦσα μόνον τοὺς μεμαθηκότας, οἵων διὰ τὸ ἀδύνατον τῆς ἀνόδου ἀποστερήμεθα; Ἆρ' οὖν ἕξω τῆς φύσεως ἡμῶν ὁ Κύριος ἐγκελεύεται, καὶ ὑπερέβη τὰ μέτρα τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης δυνάμεως τῷ μεγαλείῳ τοῦ ἐπιτάγματος; Οὐκ ἔστι ταῦτα. Οὔτε γὰρ πτηνοὺς γενέσθαι κελεύει, οἷς τὸ πτερὸν οὐκ ἐνέφυσεν, οὐδὲ ὑπὸ ὕδωρ ζῇν οἷς τὸν χερσαῖον ἀπεκλήρωσε βίον. Εἰ οὖν ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς ἄλλοις πρόσ φορός ἐστι τῇ δυνάμει τῶν δεχομένων ὁ νόμος, καὶ οὐδὲν ὑπὲρ τὴν φύσιν βιάζεται· καὶ τοῦτο πάντως ἐκ τοῦ ἀκολούθου νοήσομεν, μὴ ἀπ' ἐλπίδος εἶναι τὸ διὰ τοῦ μακαρισμοῦ προδεικνύμενον. Ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸν 44.1268 Ἰωάννην, καὶ τὸν Παῦλον, καὶ τὸν Μωσέα, καὶ εἴ τις ἄλλος κατ' ἐκείνους ἐστὶ, μὴ ἐκπεπτωκέναι τῆς ὑψηλῆς ταύτης μακαριότητος, τῆς ἐκ τοῦ ἰδεῖν τὸν Θεὸν προσγινομένης, μηδὲ τὸν εἰπόντα, ὅτι Ἀπόκειταί μοι ὁ τῆς δικαιοσύνης στέφανος, ὃν ἀποδώ σει μοι ὁ δίκαιος κριτὴς, μήτε τὸν ἐπὶ τὸ στῆθος ἀναπεσόντα τοῦ Ἰησοῦ, μήτε τὸν ἀκηκοότα παρὰ τῆς θείας φωνῆς, ὅτι Ἔγνων σε παρὰ πάντας. Εἰ οὖν ἐκεῖνοι, παρ' ὧν ὑπὲρ δύναμιν ἡ τοῦ Θεοῦ κατα νόησις εἶναι κεκήρυκται, μακαριστοὶ εἶναι οὐκ ἀμ φιβάλλονται· ἡ δὲ μακαριότης εἰς τὸ ἰδεῖν τὸν Θεόν ἐστιν, τοῦτο δὲ ἐκ τοῦ καθαρὸν τῇ καρδίᾳ γενέσθαι· ἄρα οὐκ ἀδύνατος τῆς καρδίας ἡ καθαρότης, δι' ἧς ἔστι γενέσθαι μακάριον. Πῶς οὖν ἔστι καὶ τοὺς κατὰ Παῦλον ἀληθῆ λέγειν φῆσαι, ὑπὲρ τὴν δύναμιν ἡμῶν ὑποφαινομένους εἶναι τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ κατανόη σιν, καὶ τὴν τοῦ Κυρίου φωνὴν μὴ ἀντιδογματίζειν ἐκείνοις, ἐν καθαρότητι ὀφθήσεσθαι τὸν Θεὸν ὑπι σχομένην; ∆οκεῖ μοι καλῶς ἔχειν περὶ τούτου χρῆναι διὰ βραχέων πρῶτον λαβεῖν, ὡς ἂν καθ' ὁδὸν γένοιτο ἡμῖν περὶ τὸ προκείμενον ἡ θεωρία. Ἡ θεία φύσις αὐτὴ καθ' αὑτὴν ὅ τι ποτὲ κατ' οὐσίαν ἐστὶ, πάσης ὑπέρκειται καταληπτικῆς ἐπινοίας, ἀπρόσιτος καὶ ἀπροσπέλαστος οὖσα ταῖς στοχαστικαῖς ἐπινοίαις, καὶ οὔπω τις ἀνθρώποις πρὸς τὴν τῶν ἐκλήπτων κατανόησιν ἐξεύρηται δύναμις· οὐδέ τις ἔφοδος κα ταληπτικὴ τῶν ἀμηχάνων ἐπενοήθη. ∆ιὸ καὶ Ἀνεξ ιχνιάστους τὰς ὁδοὺς αὐτοῦ ὁ μέγας ὀνομάζει Ἀπό στολος, σημαίνων διὰ τοῦ λόγου τὸ ἀνεπίβατον εἶναι λογισμοῖς τὴν ὁδὸν ἐκείνην, ἣ πρὸς τὴν γνῶσιν τῆς θείας οὐσίας ἄγει· ὡς οὔπω τινὸς τῶν